Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira-Cheick Kongo added to UFC 149 in Canada

After some time on the shelf the return of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira from one of the most gruesome submissions in MMA history is drawing closer. Nogueira, who has 33 wins in MMA under his belt, has been scheduled to face Cheick Kongo at UFC 149 on July 21. The card will take place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The Calgary Sun first reported the Nogueira-Kongo bout, and though not official the claim was given some substance after being Re-Tweeted by the UFC’s Canadian branch.

Nogueira (33-7-1) was defeated by Frank Mir this past December, refusing to tap to a nasty Kimura and suffering a snapped limb for his bravado. The iconic Brazilian has since had surgery, complete with a plate and several screws being inserted into the arm, and has been training in Brazil for some time.

Comparably, Kongo (17-7-2) was handed his first career loss via TKO by Mark Hunt at UFC 144. The defeat ended Kongo’s hopes of putting together a three-fight winning streak, beating Pat Barry and Matt Mitrione.

Feels like a step down for Nog, him being such an Icon and all.
I’m hoping we get to see the Big Nog of old. Kongo has such nasty GnP, and I used to love watching Nog get smashed for 10 min. and think that he’s finally done, only to pull out a submission at the end and get the win. No matter how many times that happened it was always surprising.
No matter what though, you can’t go wrong with Big Nog on the card.